Overflow cutoff safety device for oil burners



May 20, 1952 ,.J. F. GIARDINO OVERFLOW CUTOFF SAFETY DEVICE FOR OIL. BURNERS Filed Aug. 5, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l May 20, 1952 J. F. GIARDINO 2,597,470

OVERFLOW CUTOFF' SAFETY DEVICE FOR OIL BURNERS Filed Aug. 5, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 20, 1952 J. F. GIARDINO 2,597,470

OVERFLOW CUTOFF SAFETY DEVICE FOR OIL BURNERS Filed Aug. 5, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 lll ll Patented May 20, 1952 AT oFF-'PGE- OVERFLOWCUTOFF SAFETY DEVICE FOR OIL-- BURNE-Rs J oseph FT Giardino, Brck'tonQMass. Applicatin Augusta 1949iserial-Noriosisso 1 Claim.- l

'I'his invention relates to oil burneraandespecially to voil burners 4of the type having a burner base provided with concentric burner channels which form the bottomof'concentric combustion chambers formed by-concentric perforated cylinders that are supported on the walls ofthe burner channels, and also lhaving Vmeansito feed fuel oilto said basewhich oil becomes vaporized and is delivered to` the 'burnerchan'nels in vapor form.

Oil burners of this type='areconirnon lylused inkitchen ranges, and-when so used,each complete burnerA usuallyvincludes 'two burner' units which Yare fedfrom .the same feed pipe;

If -in the operation of an 4oil burnerof.' this type oil in liquid form` accumulates in the burner channels in sufficient quantity to overflow the channels, the overflowing oil will presenta serious re hazard.

AOne of the objects of the present invention is to prevent-such overow of liquidoilffrom the burner channels by providingmeans which is responsive to -an accumulation vof liquidoil in the burner channel to shut off the delivery of oil to the burner base before the oil accumulation hasreached the'overowstage.

A further object of :the invention is to provide an'ol burner of this typewitl'i 'a shutoff vali/e in'the rfeed pipe and to provide means" responsive to an accumulation of liquid oil in the'burner channels to close said shut oli valv'e'befor'e the oil accumulation has reached the 'overiio'w stage'.

By 'such 'means the possibility'of liquid oil overflowingk the burnerI channels'withV its' at'- tendant lire hazard is entirely'eliminated;

In thedrawings, wherein'I haveI illustrated a selected embodiment' of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a topplan-view off-the burnerba'se of'anoil burner with its associatedfeed--pipe and illustrating my improvements?- Fig.`2 isa side View of Fig.Avv 1.l

Fig. 3 is asection on the line 3-3,-Figl.2 with a portion of the burneribase'broken out toiillustrate the burner;channels.Y

Fig. 4 is a section on the line lll- 4, Fig. v3.

In the drawings I indicates the'burnerY base of an oil burner which is provided with two concentricburner channels `2 as usual in oil burners of this type. The complete burner involves the use of concentric perforated cylinders of sheet metal which'are supported on shoulders 3 which are formed at the tops of the lwalls of the burner channels, said perforated cylinders forming between them annular combustion cham'- bersin which the vaporizedfoil deliveredV to the 'ber` of 4the burnerbase, these partsf'beingu'such as''arecommonlyrfoundin oil-.fburners of this type'.Vv The-control valve f5 is'="offthe'usual type by which ,the 'flame lof the' burner is ffcontrolled.

A's stated above, if',A for1'any-reason,'liquidoil accumulates in theburnerlchannels;there isi a possibility.' thaty such accumulation: may beiv in suchS-an amount as -tofcausefth liquidoilto overflow the channel thus creating af serious Ire hazard.V Such accumulation of Ioil 'inthe burner channels mighttresult from feeding -z the? l oilf to the Vbu'rnerffasterthan it can Ybe'-vaporizedand burnedgiorit might result'fr'omfa leakyrcontrol valve, orifromffailure to' adjustproperly the control "valve 5 :after it had 'been seti at the: start position when starting t the burner.'v

Inorder to-fprevent any such overilow of. oil from'theburnerfchannels I have provided herein means" which is' responsive to 'an accumulation cfoil: in 'the burner channels' for shuttingoi the supplyofoil to the-burner before`tlief-oil accumulation reachesth'e overiiowfsta'ge. This end is'laccomplished by providing an V*overflow pipe having an inlet end which-is" situated at a levelbetween the bottom and tcp of the-burner channels and providing fineansA whereby when ever there is an oil accumulation in the burner channel, the oil whichv is fed'f'to. the burner channels will beldiverted into the overflowv pipe thereby preventingl `any overflow. 1

In Fig. 3 the vertical section l of the feed A.pipe is provided with a branch 8 which extends"- upwardly along side of the burnerbasesandfrwhich communicates with the inletlend lI-"of the Aover#- flow pipe/ The connection betweenthe branch pipe 8 and the overflow pipe 9 is at ia-level :below the-topvof 'the Awall of the burner channelfbut above `the-bottom thereof, that isf-ata level indicated by the' line--lll in-Fig.- 3. The branch pipe 8- and the overflow pipe 9 thusforman inverted=U andthe oillevel in the pipe,v 8 will correspondto that -in the pipe-1 andin theburner channel.

So l-long as f the burner is-.operating f normally and the'liquid oil isbeing vaporized' in thefvapore :ming-chamber onthefburner base-asV fast as it is being delivered thereto, the oil level in the pipe 8 will stand at a point corresponding substantially to the bottom of the base and will thus be below the inlet end II of the overflow pipe 9.

If, however, there is an accumulation of liquid oil in the burner channels, then the oil level in the pipe 8 will rise to correspond to the level of the oil in the burner channels, and when the level of the oil in the burner channels reaches a point indicated by the line I0, then the oil will overflow through the pipe 9 and will prevent any further accumulation of oil in the burner channels.

There is also shown in Fig. 3 a second overflow pipe I2, the inlet end I3 of which is tapped Y in to the side wall of the exterior burner channel 2 so that if there is an oil accumulation in the burner channels, then when the level of the oil in the channel reaches the inlet end I3 of the overilow pipe 1, the oil`will iiow through said overilow pipe and thus prevent an overilow of the oil from the burner channels. Either one of the overflow pipes 9 and I2 may be omitted if desired, in which case the remaining pipe will function to drain off surplus oil. The advantage of having two overflow pipes is that if there is an excessive accumulation of oil in the burner, there will be plenty of facilities for draining off such surplus oil.

The invention also involves means for shutting off the supply of oil to the burner whenever the oil level in the burner channel reaches a point where the oil will flow through either of the overilow pipes thereby stopping the further flow of liquid oil to the burner.

For this purpose I have provided an overflow chamber I4 into which the overilow pipes 9 and I2 deliver overflowing oil. Situated in the overflow chamber I4 is a shut oi valve I5 which is located in the overflow chamber I4, said valve having a projection at its lower end which extends through the bottom of the overflow chamber and is provided with an inlet port I1 that communicates with a passage in the tting I9 which is located below the chamber I4 and is secured to the extending portion of the valve I5. Section 4 of the feed pipe extends through the side wall of the chamber I4 and is screw threaded to the valve as shown in Fig. 4, said pipe section providing the discharge port I8 for the valve.

The said valve is formed with a valve chamber with which the ports I1, I8 communicate and in which is located the valve 2|. The fitting I9 is provided with a connection 20 by which it may be connected to another portion of the supply pipe.

With this arrangement the duct through which the oil flows to the burner extends through the chamber I4 but has no communication therewith.

With this arrangement the oil will flow from the supply pipe through the tting I9 and through the port I1 of the shut off valve and thence through the discharge port I8 to the feed pipe sections 4, 6 and 1.

The shut oi valve is provided with a vertically movable valve member 2l controlling the inlet port I1. This valve member 2| is provided with a valve stem 22 which extends beyond the valve body and which is connected at its upper end to a lever member 23 that is pivoted at 24 to a bracket 25 carried by the valve body.

The end of the lever 23 is attached to a iloat 26 which operates in the overflow chamber I4.

Under norm-al conditions when the burner is 4 operating properly, the overflow chamber I4 will be empty and the weight of the iloat will hold the valve ZI in raised position so that the inlet port of the shut olf valve will be open and liquid oil will be fed to the burner in the usual manner.

If, for any reason, there is an oil accumulation in the burner channels suicient to cause oil to ilow through either of the overilow pipes 9 and I2, such overowing oil will be delivered to the overflow chamber I4 and as the oil accumulates in said chamber I4, it will raise the float 25 thereby closing the shut off valve 2I and stopping further delivery of oil to the feed pipe 4, 6, 1.

With this construction, therefore, all danger of liquid oil overflowing the burner channels is avoided and the supply of liquid oil to the burner will be shut off whenever oil accumulates in suflcient quantities in the burner channels to cause surplus oil to be delivered to the overflow pipes.

The overilow chamber I4 is provided with a telltale device to indicate the oil level therein. Such telltale device comprises a vertically arranged tubular member 21 located within the chamber and open at its top and also provided with an opening 28 at its lower end. Located within the tube 21 is a piston element 29 having a stem 30 rising therefrom which is of suicient length to project through an aperture 3| in the cover 32 of the chamber I4.

When there is no oil in the chamber I4, the piston 29 will be at the lower end of the cylinder as shown in Fig. 3. But whenever oil accumulates in the chamber I4, the piston 29 will be floated upwardly thereby elevating the stem 30. The position of the stem relative to the top 32 of the box gives an indication as to the amount of oil in the chamber I4.

Said chamber I4 is provided with a drain cock 33 by which any oil that has accumulated therein may be drained away.

There is shown in Fig. 1 two control valves 5, and the section 4 of the feed pipe is connected to deliver oil to both control valves. The second control valve is the one which would be used for controlling a companion burner of a two-unit burner such as is commonly used in kitchen ranges.

The overflow pipe 9 is provided at its inlet end II with a tting 35 having an air vent opening 36 to allow escape of air from the pipe 8 as the oil level therein rises, and the entrance of air to said pipe 8 as the oil level falls.

While two overflow pipes 9 and I2 are herein illustrated, yet for many installations a single overilow pipe may be suillcient.

The construction involving the branch pipe 8 and the overflow pipe 9 is well adapted to be installed in burners that are already in use, thus providing such a burner with the anti-overflow device, it only being necessary to insert a T in the vertical pipe section 1 and connect the branch pipe 8 thereto, and then to connect the overflow pipe 9 to the branch pipe.

The construction involving the overflow pipe I2 is one which might be built into the burner at the time of its manufacture, thereby providing a burner which can be delivered to the purchaser equipped with the safety attachment.

While I have shown a burner having twoburner channels, yet I desire to state that the invention is equally applicable to burners having a single burner channel. such as are frequently installed in stoves used for heating purposes rather than cooking purposes.

The invention is also applicable to burners having more than tWo burner channels.

It will be understood that various changes in the constructional details of the device may be made without departing from the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a safety device for oil burners, the combination with an oil burner having a burner channel, of a supply pipe for supplying said burner with oil, an overflow chamber below the burner channel, an overflow pipe leading into the overflow chamber and having its inlet end at a level above the bottom but below the top of the burner channel, a pipe connection between the supply pipe and the inlet end of the overflow pipe whereby oil being supplied to the burner channel will be diverted to said overflow pipe Whenever the oil level in the burner chamber reaches the level of the inlet end of said overow pipe, a shut off valve device in said overflow chamber, said valve device comprising a valve body having a valve chamber, a portion of the valve body projecting through the bottom of the overow chamber and having an inlet port leading to said valve chamber, means located below the overow chamber and connected to the projecting portion of the valve body to deliver oil to the inlet port, said supply pipe having a portion extending into the over- 6 flow chamber and connected to the valve body and communicating with said valve chamber, a vertically movable valve element in the valve chamber which closes the inlet port on its downward movement, a oat in said overiiow chamber, a pivotally mounted lever connected at one end to the float and at the other end to the valve element, whereby raising movement of the float due to an accumulation of oil in the overflow chamber will depress the valve element and close said inlet port.

JOSEPH F. GIARDINO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,359,917 Pryce Nov. 23, 1920 1,489,415 Anderson Aug. 8, 1924 1,550,047 Remsnider Aug. 18, 1925 1,623,161 Buerger Apr. 5, 1927 1,710,703 Krebs Apr. 30, 1929 1,723,102 Walker Aug. 6, 1929 1,788,827 Ferrin Jan. 13, 1931 1,820,403 Stevens Aug. 25, 1931 2,111,744 Bock Mar. 22, 1938 2,111,774 Hainsworth Mar. 22, 1938 2,194,133 Whitcomb Mar. 19, 1940 2,236,559 Anderson Apr. 1, 1941 2,416,932 Litzenberg Mar, 4, 1947 

